Within hours, the number of his followers on Twitter had comfortably exceeded one million, with more than 800,000 in English alone – one of eight languages in which he will tweet.

Benedict later sent two more tweets, in response to questions of faith sent in by Catholics from around the world.

In response to a question about how to be more faithful to Christ in day to day life, Benedict tweeted: "By speaking with Jesus in prayer, listening to what he tells you in the Gospel and looking for him in those in need."

The Vatican had invited the faithful to send their questions to a special Twitter account, #askpontifex.

But it was subjected to a deluge of abusive tweets, including comments about paedophile priests and the imprisonment of the Pope’s butler for stealing and leaking to the press confidential Vatican documents.

Some of the messages were jokey, including “What brand of beans should I stockpile to prepare for Armageddon?”, “Who is your favourite character from Father Ted?” and “Are you sending everyone who asks you stupid questions on Twitter to hell?”

But others were more malicious and contained personal insults towards the Pope, asking him about his position on gay marriage, women on the Church and controversies that have embroiled the Vatican in recent years.

Vatican officials have said the Pope will not personally compose every tweet, but each one will be approved by him and will be drawn from his speeches, thoughts and theological writings.